Striving to develop cross-platform and efficient applications, without affecting performance, speed, and UI consistency, leads us to Google’s open-source software development kit — Flutter.
And when it comes to building iOS applications, complementing Flutter with Xcode gives developers the confidence to build efficient mobile apps, starting from the development and ending with the deployment.
This comprehensive article illustrates why a startup on the iOS platform should choose Flutter over other frameworks, as well as the perks of using it with Xcode to create highly-performing applications.
Flutter’s Cross-Platform Development Capabilities
Cross-platform development has made a revolution in mobile app development allowing developers to write one codebase and deploy it on different platforms. But what does Flutter offer?
- Fast development: Flutter uses its hot reload feature that can significantly reduce the time it takes to develop a program, by updating changes automatically.
- Expressive UI: Flutter has a huge set of prebuilt widgets that can be integrated easily into the application to make a beautiful responsive interface, without the need to build them from scratch.
- Single codebase: Cross-platform development allows for writing the code once and deploying it on different platforms, which cuts costs.
- The idea of developing one codebase also makes the maintenance phase easier and reduces its costs, as you only need to make changes in one codebase.
- High performance: Flutter’s code is compiled directly over the hardware of the device, which leads to fast rendering and high performance.
- Native-like experience: Flutter apps seem native, because of the use of platform-specific widgets and design principles.
With all these advantages, Flutter has the ability to produce high-performance applications that can offer an excellent user experience.
Why iOS Developers Should Use Flutter With Xcode
Flutter is Google’s open-source framework that gives developers the power to build cross-platform applications that work on both Android and iOS devices from a single codebase. There are a lot of IDEs that support application development, but when it comes to iOS developers, for several reasons, Xcode is considered the best IDE for developing iOS applications:
- Xcode allows iOS developers to build applications that work on different Apple platforms using a single codebase.
- Xcode has improved editor tools, which gives developers the power to write code more efficiently, accelerating the development process.
- It allows testing and deploying apps on Apple devices without complications, as developers can easily test their app’s efficiency and performance.
- Xcode is lighter and faster than the other IDEs, as it requires smaller storage and loads faster.
By leveraging the powers and tools of Xcode in development, testing, and deployment, developers can create high-performing and efficient applications.
Beginner’s Guide to Working With Flutter and Xcode for iOS
In this section, we are going to overview the process of creating a Flutter Project on Xcode and see how to use Xcode with Flutter for smooth and stable integration.
1. Setting Up the Development Environment
Before getting started with Flutter and Xcode for iOS development, there are some requirements we need to check and steps we need to follow to install the required tools. The key requirements include macOS, Flutter SDK, and Xcode IDE.
The next step is installing Flutter by downloading the Flutter SDK from the Flutter website. You need to create a designated folder. Then, it would be a good idea to create a directory at ~/development/. You will then be able to extract the file into the directory. To run Flutter commands in the Terminal, you need to add Flutter to the PATH environment variable.
To develop Flutter apps for iOS, you then need to install Xcode. For that, you must open the App Store and sign in, search for Xcode, and install it.
2. Initializing Your First Project in Flutter
After creating the Flutter project, you need to navigate to the directory you have just created.
Flutter automatically includes an iOS folder in your project for iOS configuration — you just need to open this folder in Xcode.
Then you need to ensure that all necessary iOS dependencies are installed. Now your first Flutter project is initialized and ready for iOS development.
3. Configuring Xcode for Smooth Integration
To ensure Flutter and Xcode work perfectly together, you need to make sure you complete the following steps:
- Opening the iOS Project in Xcode.
- Setting the signing & capabilities.
- Configuring build settings.
- Enabling all the necessary permissions.
4. Running the Application on an iOS Simulator
The next step is launching the iOS simulator and running the Flutter app on the simulator. The app will compile and launch on the iOS simulator you have chosen.
5. Deploying to Physical Devices
For successful deployment, you need to connect your iOS device, set up development certificates and profiles, and finally run the app on the device.
Tips for Optimizing Flutter App Performance on iOS
In this post, we have explored the world of Flutter, and why it is a good idea to integrate Flutter with Xcode in iOS development. We have also explored how to install Flutter and Xcode, and how to create your first project.
You can see that Flutter has transformed the market through its capabilities and powers, from supporting cross-platform development to saving time and costs. Moreover, Flutter’s integration with Xcode offers iOS developers the pros of both sides: the efficiency of Flutter and the power of iOS native development.
You should also remember that developing an app for iOS requires some design principles and criteria to follow, as iOS users are used to a specific user experience, and it would look bad for your app to be below what they expect. For producing an efficient and highly-performing application on iOS, you need to optimize widget rendering, images, database queries, and app size.
